Ward 49 of the City of Chicago includes most of Rogers Park and parts of West Ridge.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Deep lake water cooling
Deep lake water cooling
Deep lake water cooling uses cold water pumped from the bottom of a lake as a heat sink for climate control systems. Because heat pump efficiency improves as the heat sink gets colder, deep lake water cooling can reduce the electrical demands of large cooling systems where it is available. It is similar in concept to modern geothermal sinks, but generally simpler to construct given a suitable water source.
Basic concept
Water is most dense at 3.98 °C at standard atmospheric pressure. Thus as water cools below 3.98 °C it lowers in density and will rise, the most obvious example being that ice floats. As the temperature climbs above 3.98 °C, water density also decreases and causes the water to rise, which is why lakes are warmer on the surface during the summer. The combination of these two effects means that the bottom of most deep bodies of water located well away from the equatorial regions is at a constant 3.98 °C.
Air conditioners are heat pumps. During the summer, when outside air temperatures are higher than the thermostat set temperature inside a building, air conditioners use electricity to pump heat uphill, from the cooler interior of the building to the warmer exterior ambient. This process is expensive because large buildings collect an enormous amount of solar thermal energy (at noon, about one kilowatt per square meter facing the sun), and require lots of electrical energy to pump out all that heat.
Unlike residential air conditioners, most modern commercial air conditioning systems do not pump heat directly into the exterior air. Instead, water is brought down to the wet-bulb temperature by partial evaporation in a cooling tower. This cold water then acts as the heat sink for the heat pump. The improvement in heat pump efficiency saves so much energy that cooling towers have become ubiquitous on the rooftops and mechanical floors of skyscrapers.
Deep lake water cooling goes even further. Except in the driest of summer conditions, deep lake water will be cooler than the ambient wet bulb temperature. Because it is a colder heat sink it saves still more electricity. For many buildings, the sink should be sufficiently cold that the heat pumps can be shut down and the building can use free cooling, allowing interior heat to conduct directly to the heat sink. "Free cooling" is not actually free, since pumps and fans still must be run to circulate the heat sink water and building air.
One added attraction of deep lake water cooling is that it saves energy during peak load times–summer afternoons when a sizable amount of the total electrical grid load is air conditioning.
First major system in the United States
Cornell University's Lake Source Cooling System uses Cayuga Lake as a heat sink to operate the central chilled water system for its campus and to also provide cooling to the Ithaca City School District. The system has operated since the summer of 2000 and was built at a cost of $55-60 million. It cools a 14,500 ton load.
Lake water enters the system via a screened intake structure 10,400 feet away in 250 feet of water. The intake pipeline is 63 inch High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) that was deployed from the surface using a "controlled" sink process where water was pumped in at the shallow end and air was released at the other end. A series of stiffener rings and concrete collars keep the pipeline on the lake floor and protect it from mechanical forces. The outfall is 48 inch HDPE and is approximately 750 feet long. The last 100 feet of the outfall has 38 six-inch nozzles, about 1 foot above the bottom of the lake floor in 14 feet of water, pointed up at a 20 degree angle and pointed north only. This helps promote mixing of the return water into the receiving water. The water cools a heat-exchanger which is connected to a closed-loop campus chilled water distribution system linked to many buildings on the main campus.
First system in Canada
Since August 2004, a deep lake water cooling system has been operated by the Enwave Energy Corporation in Toronto, Ontario.[1] It draws water from Lake Ontario through tubes extending 5 km into the lake, reaching to a depth of 83 metres. The deep lake water cooling system is part of an integrated district cooling system that covers Toronto's financial district, and has a cooling power of 59,000 tons (207 MW). The system currently has enough capacity to cool 3.2 million square meters of office space.[2]
The cold water drawn from Lake Ontario's deep layer in the Enwave system is not returned directly to the lake, once it has been run through the heat exchange system. The Enwave system only uses water that is destined to meet the city's domestic water needs. Therefore, the Enwave system does not pollute the lake with a plume of waste heat.
Comparison to related technologies
This water-cooling technology has some relationship to an older technology and a possible future technology.
Icehouse cooling
Looking back to the past, water-cooling recalls well insulated icehouses which were used to store ice throughout the year prior to the invention of refrigeration. Icehouses were filled with fresh ice collected from lake surfaces during the winter whereas deep lake water cooling taps a permanent store of cold water.
OTEC power generation
Looking towards the future, water-cooling uses cold deep water just as ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) does. However, OTEC is intended to be used for generating energy by operating a heat engine on the temperature difference between the ocean bottom and the ocean surface. Deep lake water cooling bypasses the need for electricity generation altogether and, so, is a simpler and more immediately practical technology than OTEC. Ambitious OTEC projects have yet to realize their full potential because they present far more demanding engineering challenges.
See also
Solar pond
District heating
Trigeneration
External sources
Enwave -- Corporate page on Enwave and Toronto's deep lake water cooling system.
From Lake Depths, a Blast of Cool for Consumers
Cornell University Lake Source Cooling Website
Deep lake water cooling uses cold water pumped from the bottom of a lake as a heat sink for climate control systems. Because heat pump efficiency improves as the heat sink gets colder, deep lake water cooling can reduce the electrical demands of large cooling systems where it is available. It is similar in concept to modern geothermal sinks, but generally simpler to construct given a suitable water source.
Basic concept
Water is most dense at 3.98 °C at standard atmospheric pressure. Thus as water cools below 3.98 °C it lowers in density and will rise, the most obvious example being that ice floats. As the temperature climbs above 3.98 °C, water density also decreases and causes the water to rise, which is why lakes are warmer on the surface during the summer. The combination of these two effects means that the bottom of most deep bodies of water located well away from the equatorial regions is at a constant 3.98 °C.
Air conditioners are heat pumps. During the summer, when outside air temperatures are higher than the thermostat set temperature inside a building, air conditioners use electricity to pump heat uphill, from the cooler interior of the building to the warmer exterior ambient. This process is expensive because large buildings collect an enormous amount of solar thermal energy (at noon, about one kilowatt per square meter facing the sun), and require lots of electrical energy to pump out all that heat.
Unlike residential air conditioners, most modern commercial air conditioning systems do not pump heat directly into the exterior air. Instead, water is brought down to the wet-bulb temperature by partial evaporation in a cooling tower. This cold water then acts as the heat sink for the heat pump. The improvement in heat pump efficiency saves so much energy that cooling towers have become ubiquitous on the rooftops and mechanical floors of skyscrapers.
Deep lake water cooling goes even further. Except in the driest of summer conditions, deep lake water will be cooler than the ambient wet bulb temperature. Because it is a colder heat sink it saves still more electricity. For many buildings, the sink should be sufficiently cold that the heat pumps can be shut down and the building can use free cooling, allowing interior heat to conduct directly to the heat sink. "Free cooling" is not actually free, since pumps and fans still must be run to circulate the heat sink water and building air.
One added attraction of deep lake water cooling is that it saves energy during peak load times–summer afternoons when a sizable amount of the total electrical grid load is air conditioning.
First major system in the United States
Cornell University's Lake Source Cooling System uses Cayuga Lake as a heat sink to operate the central chilled water system for its campus and to also provide cooling to the Ithaca City School District. The system has operated since the summer of 2000 and was built at a cost of $55-60 million. It cools a 14,500 ton load.
Lake water enters the system via a screened intake structure 10,400 feet away in 250 feet of water. The intake pipeline is 63 inch High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) that was deployed from the surface using a "controlled" sink process where water was pumped in at the shallow end and air was released at the other end. A series of stiffener rings and concrete collars keep the pipeline on the lake floor and protect it from mechanical forces. The outfall is 48 inch HDPE and is approximately 750 feet long. The last 100 feet of the outfall has 38 six-inch nozzles, about 1 foot above the bottom of the lake floor in 14 feet of water, pointed up at a 20 degree angle and pointed north only. This helps promote mixing of the return water into the receiving water. The water cools a heat-exchanger which is connected to a closed-loop campus chilled water distribution system linked to many buildings on the main campus.
First system in Canada
Since August 2004, a deep lake water cooling system has been operated by the Enwave Energy Corporation in Toronto, Ontario.[1] It draws water from Lake Ontario through tubes extending 5 km into the lake, reaching to a depth of 83 metres. The deep lake water cooling system is part of an integrated district cooling system that covers Toronto's financial district, and has a cooling power of 59,000 tons (207 MW). The system currently has enough capacity to cool 3.2 million square meters of office space.[2]
The cold water drawn from Lake Ontario's deep layer in the Enwave system is not returned directly to the lake, once it has been run through the heat exchange system. The Enwave system only uses water that is destined to meet the city's domestic water needs. Therefore, the Enwave system does not pollute the lake with a plume of waste heat.
Comparison to related technologies
This water-cooling technology has some relationship to an older technology and a possible future technology.
Icehouse cooling
Looking back to the past, water-cooling recalls well insulated icehouses which were used to store ice throughout the year prior to the invention of refrigeration. Icehouses were filled with fresh ice collected from lake surfaces during the winter whereas deep lake water cooling taps a permanent store of cold water.
OTEC power generation
Looking towards the future, water-cooling uses cold deep water just as ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) does. However, OTEC is intended to be used for generating energy by operating a heat engine on the temperature difference between the ocean bottom and the ocean surface. Deep lake water cooling bypasses the need for electricity generation altogether and, so, is a simpler and more immediately practical technology than OTEC. Ambitious OTEC projects have yet to realize their full potential because they present far more demanding engineering challenges.
See also
Solar pond
District heating
Trigeneration
External sources
Enwave -- Corporate page on Enwave and Toronto's deep lake water cooling system.
From Lake Depths, a Blast of Cool for Consumers
Cornell University Lake Source Cooling Website
Renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy effectively utilizes natural resources such as sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat, which are naturally replenished. Renewable energy technologies range from solar power, wind power, and hydroelectricity to biomass and biofuels for transportation. About 13 percent of primary energy comes from renewables, with most of this coming from traditional biomass like wood-burning. Hydropower is the next largest source, providing 2-3%, and modern technologies like geothermal, wind, solar, and marine energy together produce less than 1% of total world energy demand.[2] The technical potential for their use is very large, exceeding all other readily available sources.[3]
Renewable energy technologies are sometimes criticised for being unreliable or unsightly, yet the market is growing for many forms of renewable energy. Wind power has a worldwide installed capacity of 74,223 MW and is widely used in several European countries and the USA.[4] The manufacturing output of the photovoltaics industry reached more than 2,000 MW per year in 2006,[5] and PV power plants are particularly popular in Germany.[6] Solar thermal power stations operate in the USA and Spain, and the largest of these is the 354 MW SEGS power plant in the Mojave Desert.[7] The world's largest geothermal power installation is The Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW.[8] Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18 percent of the country's automotive fuel.[9] Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the USA.
While there are many large-scale renewable energy projects, renewable technologies are also suited to small off-grid applications, sometimes in rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in human development.[10] Kenya has the world's highest household solar ownership rate with roughly 30,000 small (20-100 watt) solar power systems sold per year.[11]
Climate change concerns coupled with high oil prices, peak oil and increasing government support are driving increasing renewable energy legislation, incentives and commercialization. EU leaders reached agreement in principle in March that 20 percent of the bloc's energy should be produced from renewable fuels by 2020, as part of its drive to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, blamed in part for global warming. [12] Investment capital flowing into renewable energy climbed from $80 billion in 2005 to a record $100 billion in 2006.[13] Some very large corporations such as BP, GE, Sharp, and Shell are investing in the renewable energy sector.[14][15]
Scenarios
Looking forward to 2030, the American Solar Energy Society report examines three scenarios: a "business as usual" scenario, with no major policy changes; a moderate scenario that includes incremental policy advances; and an advanced scenario of aggressive growth in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
In the "business as usual" scenario, the jobs created by renewable energy increase 190% by 2030, while jobs created by energy efficiency increase by 85%.
In the moderate scenario, the jobs created by renewable energy increase nearly 7-fold, while jobs created by energy efficiency more than double.
And in the advanced scenario, the jobs created by renewable energy increase 17-fold, while jobs created by energy efficiency quadruple. In the advanced scenario, renewable energy revenues increase to nearly $600 billion, while energy efficiency revenues increase to almost $4 trillion. [16]
The U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency industries employed 8 million people in 2006, while generating 933 billion dollars in sales, $100 billion in profits, and $150 billion in increased federal, state, and local government tax revenues, according to a new report from the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). The report notes that it's difficult to define the energy efficiency industry, but even focusing on the renewable energy industry, it found 196,000 people directly employed by the industry, a total of 452,000 jobs created, and revenues of $39.2 billion in 2006. [17]
Main renewable energy technologies
The majority of renewable energy technologies are directly or indirectly powered by the sun.
The Earth-Atmosphere system is in equilibrium such that heat radiation into space is equal to incoming solar radiation, the resulting level of energy within the Earth-Atmosphere system can roughly be described as the Earth's "climate." The hydrosphere (water) absorbs a major fraction of the incoming radiation. Most radiation is absorbed at low latitudes around the equator, but this energy is dissipated around the globe in the form of winds and ocean currents.
Wave motion may play a role in the process of transferring mechanical energy between the atmosphere and the ocean through wind stress.[18] Solar energy is also responsible for the distribution of precipitation which is tapped by hydroelectric projects, and for the growth of plants used to create biofuels.
Renewable energy flows involve natural phenomena such as sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat, as the International Energy Agency explains:
Each of these sources has unique characteristics which influence how and where they are used.
Wind power
Airflows can be used to run wind turbines. Modern wind turbines range from around 600kW to up to 5 MW of rated power, although turbines, with rated output of 1.5-3 MW, have become the most common for commercial use; the power output of a turbine is a function of the cube of the wind speed, so as wind speed increases, power output increases dramatically.[20] Areas where winds are stronger and more constant, such as offshore and high altitude sites, are preferred locations for wind farms.
Wind power is the fastest growing of the renewable energy technologies,[20] though it currently provides less than 0.5% of global energy.[1][2] Over the past decade, global installed maximum capacity increased from 2,500 MW in 1992 to just over 40,000 MW at the end of 2003, at an annual growth rate of near 30%.[20] As wind power has become more prominent and viable, several public schools are incorporating sustainable wind power into the energy grid of their school in order to cut power costs.[21] Due to the intermittency of wind resources, most deployed turbines in the EU produce electricity an average of 25% of the hours in a year (a capacity factor of 25%),[22] but under favourable wind regimes some reach 35% or higher.
Capacity factors are a function of seasonal wind fluctuations and may be higher in winter. It would mean that a typical 5 MW turbine in the EU would have an average output of 1.7 MW.
Globally, the long-term technical potential of wind energy is believed to be five times total current global energy production, or 40 times current electricity demand. This could require large amounts of land to be utilized for wind turbines, particularly in areas of higher wind resources. Offshore resources experience mean wind speeds of ~90% greater than that of land, so offshore resources could contribute substantially more energy.[23] This number could also increase with higher altitude ground-based or airborne wind turbines.[24]
Wind strengths near the Earth's surface vary and thus cannot guarantee continuous power unless combined with other energy sources or storage systems. Some estimates suggest that 1,000 MW of conventional wind generation capacity can be relied on for just 333 MW of continuous power. While this might change as technology evolves, advocates have suggested incorporating wind power with other power sources, or the use of energy storage techniques, with this in mind. It is best used in the context of a system that has significant reserve capacity such as hydro, or reserve load, such as a desalination plant, to mitigate the economic effects of resource variability.
Wind power is renewable and produces no greenhouse gases during operation, such as carbon dioxide and methane.
Water power
Energy in water (in the form of motive energy or temperature differences) can be harnessed and used. Since water is about 800 times denser than air,[25][26] even a slow flowing stream of water, or moderate sea swell, can yield considerable amounts of energy.
There are many forms of water energy:
Solar energy use
In this context, "solar energy" refers to energy that is collected from sunlight. Solar energy can be applied in many ways, including to:
Biofuel
Plants use photosynthesis to grow and produce biomass. Also known as biomatter, biomass can be used directly as fuel or to produce liquid biofuel. Agriculturally produced biomass fuels, such as biodiesel, ethanol and bagasse (often a by-product of sugar cane cultivation) can be burned in internal combustion engines or boilers. Typically biofuel is burned to release its stored chemical energy. Research into more efficient methods of converting biofuels and other fuels into electricity utilizing fuel cells is an area of very active work.
Liquid biofuel
Liquid biofuel is usually either a bioalcohol such as ethanol or a bio-oil such as biodiesel and straight vegetable oil. Biodiesel can be used in modern diesel vehicles with little or no modification to the engine and can be made from waste and virgin vegetable and animal oil and fats (lipids). Virgin vegetable oils can be used in modified diesel engines. In fact the Diesel engine was originally designed to run on vegetable oil rather than fossil fuel. A major benefit of biodiesel is lower emissions. The use of biodiesel reduces emission of carbon monoxide and other hydrocarbons by 20 to 40%. In some areas corn, cornstalks, sugarbeets, sugar cane, and switchgrasses are grown specifically to produce ethanol (also known as grain alcohol) a liquid which can be used in internal combustion engines and fuel cells. Ethanol is being phased into the current energy infrastructure. E85 is a fuel composed of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline that is sold to consumers. Biobutanol is being developed as an alternative to bioethanol.
In the future, there might be bio-synthetic liquid fuel available. It can be produced by the Fischer-Tropsch process, also called Biomass-To-Liquids (BTL).[27]
Solid biomass
Direct use is usually in the form of combustible solids, either wood, the biogenic portion of municipal solid waste or combustible field crops. Field crops may be grown specifically for combustion or may be used for other purposes, and the processed plant waste then used for combustion. Most sorts of biomatter, including dried manure, can actually be burnt to heat water and to drive turbines.
Sugar cane residue, wheat chaff, corn cobs and other plant matter can be, and are, burned quite successfully. The net carbon dioxide emissions that are added to the atmosphere by this process are only from the fossil fuel that is often currently consumed to plant, fertilize, harvest and transport the biomass.
Processes to harvest biomass from short-rotation poplars and willows, and perennial grasses such as switchgrass, phalaris, and miscanthus, require less frequent cultivation and less nitrogen than from typical annual crops. Pelletizing miscanthus and co-firing it with coal for generating electricity is being studied and may be economically viable.[28] The higher heating value of cellulose is about 17.4 MJ/kg [1]. The estimated yield of ethanol from dry cellulose is about 0.2 kg of ethanol per kg of cellulose [2] (60 gal/ton). Since the higher heating value of ethanol is 29.7 MJ/kg of ethanol it would be 5.94 MJ/kg of the cellulose that it is made from. Thus the ethanol contains only about 1/3 as much energy as the cellulose that it was made from. Co-firing cellulose with coal would replace about three times as much fossil fuel as using the cellulose to make ethanol. The replaced coal would produce 0.0946 kg CO₂/MJ [3] while the replaced liquid fuel would produce only about 0.0733 kg CO₂/MJ so co-firing the cellulose with coal is about 3.8 times more effective at reducing CO₂ emissions than using it to make ethanol.[dubious – discuss]
Solid biomass can also be gasified, and used as described in the next section.
Biogas
Biogas can easily be produced from current waste streams, such as: paper production, sugar production, sewage, animal waste and so forth. These various waste streams have to be slurried together and allowed to naturally ferment, producing methane gas. This can be done by converting current sewage plants into biogas plants. When a biogas plant has extracted all the methane it can, the remains are sometimes better suitable as fertilizer than the original biomass.
Alternatively biogas can be produced via advanced waste processing systems such as mechanical biological treatment. These systems recover the recyclable elements of household waste and process the biodegradable fraction in anaerobic digesters.
Renewable natural gas is a biogas which has been upgraded to a quality similar to natural gas.
By upgrading the quality to that of natural gas, it becomes possible to distribute the gas to the mass market via gas grid.
Geothermal energy
Geothermal energy is energy obtained by tapping the heat of the earth itself, usually from kilometers deep into the Earth's crust. It is expensive to build a power station but operating costs are low resulting in low energy costs for suitable sites. Ultimately, this energy derives from heat in the Earth's core. The government of Iceland states: "It should be stressed that the geothermal resource is not strictly renewable in the same sense as the hydro resource." It estimates that Iceland's geothermal energy could provide 1700 MW for over 100 years, compared to the current production of 140 MW.[29] The International Energy Agency classifies geothermal power as renewable.[30]
Three types of power plants are used to generate power from geothermal energy: dry steam, flash, and binary. Dry steam plants take steam out of fractures in the ground and use it to directly drive a turbine that spins a generator. Flash plants take hot water, usually at temperatures over 200 °C, out of the ground, and allows it to boil as it rises to the surface then separates the steam phase in steam/water separators and then runs the steam through a turbine. In binary plants, the hot water flows through heat exchangers, boiling an organic fluid that spins the turbine. The condensed steam and remaining geothermal fluid from all three types of plants are injected back into the hot rock to pick up more heat.
The geothermal energy from the core of the Earth is closer to the surface in some areas than in others. Where hot underground steam or water can be tapped and brought to the surface it may be used to generate electricity. Such geothermal power sources exist in certain geologically unstable parts of the world such as Iceland, New Zealand, United States, the Philippines and Italy. The two most prominent areas for this in the United States are in the Yellowstone basin and in northern California. Iceland produced 170 MW geothermal power and heated 86% of all houses in the year 2000 through geothermal energy. Some 8000 MW of capacity is operational in total.
There is also the potential to generate geothermal energy from hot dry rocks. Holes at least 3 km deep are drilled into the earth. Some of these holes pump water into the earth, while other holes pump hot water out. The heat resource consists of hot underground radiogenic granite rocks, which heat up when there is enough sediment between the rock and the earths surface.
Several companies in Australia are exploring this technology.
Renewable energy commercialization
Costs
Renewable energy systems encompass a broad, diverse array of technologies, and the current status of these can vary considerably. Some technologies are already mature and economically competitive (e.g. geothermal and hydropower), others need additional development to become competitive without subsidies. This can be helped by improvements to sub-components, such as electric generators.
The table shows an overview of costs of various renewable energy technologies. For comparison with the prices in the table, electricity production from a conventional coal-fired plant costs about 4¢/kWh.[31] Though in some G8 nations the cost can be significantly higher at 7.88p (~15¢/kWh).[32] Achieving further cost reductions as indicated in the table below requires further technology development, market deployment, and an increase in production capacities to mass production levels.[33]
Wind power market increase
Figures from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) show that 2006 recorded an increase in installed wind power capacity of 15,197 megawatts (MW), taking the total installed capacity to 74,223 MW, up from 59,091 MW in 2005.[4] Despite constraints facing supply chains for wind turbines, the annual market for wind continued to increase at the rate of 32% following the 2005 record year, in which the market grew by 41%.[4] In terms of economic value, the wind energy sector has become one of the important players in the energy markets, with the total value of new generating equipment installed in 2006 reaching €18 billion, or US$23 billion.[4]
The countries with the highest total installed capacity are Germany (20,621 MW), Spain (11,615 MW), the USA (11,603 MW), India (6,270 MW) and Denmark (3,136 MW).[4] In terms of new installed capacity in 2006, the USA lead with 2,454 MW, followed by Germany (2,233 MW), India (1,840 MW), Spain (1,587 MW), China (1,347 MW) and France (810 MW).[4]
In the UK, a licence to build the world's largest offshore windfarm, in the Thames estuary, has been granted. The London Array windfarm, 12 miles off Kent and Essex, should eventually consist of 341 turbines, occupying an area of 90 square miles. This is a £1.5 billion, 1,000 megawatt project, which will power one-third of London homes. The windfarm will produce an amount of energy that, if generated by conventional means, would result in 1.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year. It could also make up to 10% of the Government's 2010 renewables target.[34]
New generation of solar thermal plants
Construction of the largest solar thermal power plant to be built in 15 years, in Boulder City, Nevada, is nearly complete. The 64MW Nevada Solar One power plant will generate enough power to meet the electricity needs of about 40,000 households and follows in the steps of the 354MW SEGS solar thermal power plants located in California’s Mojave Desert. While California’s solar plants have generated billions of kilowatt hours of electricity for the past two decades, the Nevada Solar One plant will use new technologies to capture even more energy from the sun.[35]
The California Solar Initiative
As part of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Million Solar Roofs Program, California has set a goal to create 3,000 megawatts of new, solar-produced electricity by 2017 - moving the state toward a cleaner energy future and helping lower the cost of solar systems for consumers. This is a comprehensive $2.8 billion program.[36]
The California Solar Initiative offers cash incentives on solar PV systems of up to $2.50 a watt. These incentives, combined with federal tax incentives, can cover up to 50% of the total cost of a solar panel system.[36] There are many financial incentives to support the use of renewable energy in other US states.[37]
World's largest photovoltaic power plants
Construction of a 40 MW solar generation power plant is underway in the Saxon region of Germany. The Waldpolenz Solar Park will consist of some 550,000 thin-film solar modules. The direct current produced in the modules will be converted into alternating current and fed completely into the power grid. Once completed in 2009, the project will be one of the largest photovoltaic projects ever constructed. Currently the biggest PV plant in the world has an output capacity of around 12 megawatts.[38]
A large photovoltaic power project has been completed in Portugal. The Serpa solar power plant is located at one of Europe's sunniest areas.[39] The 11 megawatt plant covers 150 acres and is comprised of 52,000 PV panels. The panels are raised 2 metres off the ground and the area will remain productive grazing land. The project will provide enough energy for 8,000 homes and will save an estimated 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.[40][41]
A $420 million large-scale Solar power station in Victoria is to be the biggest and most efficient solar photovoltaic power station in the world. Australian company Solar Systems will demonstrate its unique design incorporating space technology in a 154MW solar power station connected to the national grid. The power station will have the capability to concentrate the sun by 500 times onto the solar cells for ultra high power output. The Victorian power station will generate clean electricity directly from the sun to meet the annual needs of over 45,000 homes with zero greenhouse gas emissions.[42]
However, when it comes to renewable energy systems and PV, it is not just large systems that matter. Building-integrated photovoltaics or "onsite" PV systems have the advantage of being matched to end use energy needs in terms of scale. So the energy is supplied close to where it is needed.[43]
Use of ethanol for transportation
Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18 percent of the country's automotive fuel. As a partial result, Brazil, which years ago had to import a large share of the petroleum needed for domestic consumption, recently reached complete self-sufficiency in oil.[44]
Most cars on the road today in the U.S. can run on blends of up to 10% ethanol, and motor vehicle manufacturers already produce vehicles designed to run on much higher ethanol blends. Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and GM are among the automobile companies that sell “flexible-fuel” cars, trucks, and minivans that can use gasoline and ethanol blends ranging from pure gasoline up to 85% ethanol (E85). By mid-2006, there were approximately six million E85-compatible vehicles on U.S. roads.[45] The challenge is to expand the market for biofuels beyond the farm states where they have been most popular to date. Flex-fuel vehicles are assisting in this transition because they allow drivers to choose different fuels based on price and availability.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005, which calls for 7.5 billion gallons of biofuels to be used annually by 2012, will also help to expand the market.[45]
Wave farms expansion
Portugal now has the world's first commercial wave farm, the Aguçadora Wave Park, established in 2006. The farm will initially use three Pelamis P-750 machines generating 2.25 MW.[46][47] Initial costs are put at €8.5 million. Subject to successful operation, a further €70 million is likely to be invested before 2009 on a further 28 machines to generate 525 MW.[48]
Funding for a wave farm in Scotland was announced in February, 2007 by the Scottish Executive, at a cost of over 4 million pounds, as part of a £13 million funding packages for ocean power in Scotland. The farm will be the world's largest with a capacity of 3MW generated by four Pelamis machines.[49]
Geothermal energy prospects
By the end of 2005 worldwide use of geothermal energy for electricity had reached 9.3 GWs, with an additional 28 GW used directly for heating.[1] If heat recovered by ground source heat pumps is included, the non-electric use of geothermal energy is estimated at more than 100 GWt (gigawatts of thermal power) and is used commercially in over 70 countries.([1] sec 1.2)
During 2005 contracts were placed for an additional 0.5 GW of capacity in the United States, while there were also plants under construction in 11 other countries.[1]
Future potential
While at present renewable energy sources only supply a fraction of current energy use (ca. 14% of primary energy use[50], mostly from traditional biomass), there is much potential that could be exploited in the future. As the table below illustrates, the technical potential of renewable energy sources is more than 18 times current global primary energy use and furthermore several times higher than projected energy use in 2100.
There are many different ways to assess potentials. The theoretical potential indicates the amount of energy theoretically available for energy purposes, such as, in the case of solar energy, the amount of incoming radiation at the earth's surface. The technical potential is a more practical estimate of how much could be put to human use by considering conversion efficiencies of the available technology and available land area. To give an idea of the constraints, the estimate for solar energy assumes that 1% of the world's unused land surface is used for solar power.
The technical potentials generally do not include economic or other environmental constraints, and the potentials that could be realized at an economically competitive level under current conditions and in a short time-frame is lower still.
Trends favoring renewables
The renewable market will boom when cost efficiency attains parity with other competing energy sources. The following trends are a few examples by which the renewables market is being helped to attain critical mass so that it becomes competitive enough vs fossil fuels:
Other than market forces, renewable industry often needs government sponsorship to help generate enough momentum in the market. Many countries and states have implemented incentives - like government tax subsidies, partial copayment schemes and various rebates over purchase of renewables - to encourage consumers to shift to renewable energy sources. [51]
Government grants fund for research in renewable technology to make the production cheaper and generation more efficient. [52]
Development of loan programs that stimulate renewable favoring market forces with attractive return rates, buffer intial deployment costs and entice consumers to consider and purchase renewable technology. A famous example is the solar loan program sponsored by UNEP helping 100000 people finance solar power systems in India. [53] Success in India's solar program has led to similar projects in other parts of developing world like Tunisia, Morocco, Indonesia and Mexico.
Imposition of high fossil fuel consumption / carbon taxes, and channel the revenue earned towards renewable energy development. [54]
Many think-tanks are warning that the world needs an urgency driven concerted effort to create a competitive renewable energy infrastructure and market. The developed world can make more research investments to find better cost efficient technologies, and manufacturing could be transferred to developing countries in order to use low labor costs. The renewable energy market could increase fast enough to replace and initiate the decline of fossil fuel dominance and the world could then avert the looming climate and peak oil crises. [55]
Most importantly, renewables is gaining credence among private investors as having the potential to grow into the next big industry. Many companies and venture capitalists are investing in photovoltaic development and manufacturing. This trend is particularly visible in Silicon valley, California, Europe, Japan. [56] [57] [58]
Constraints and opportunities
Critics suggest that some renewable energy applications may create pollution, be dangerous, take up large amounts of land, or be incapable of generating a large net amount of energy. Proponents advocate the use of "appropriate renewables", also known as soft energy technologies, as these have many advantages.
Availability
There is no shortage of solar-derived energy on Earth. Indeed the storages and flows of energy on the planet are very large relative to human needs.
A criticism of some renewable sources is their intermittent nature. But a variety of renewable sources in combination can overcome this problem. As Amory Lovins explains:
Aesthetics
Both solar and wind generating stations have been criticized from an aesthetic point of view.[60]
However, methods and opportunities exist to deploy these renewable technologies efficiently and unobtrusively: fixed solar collectors can double as noise barriers along highways, and extensive roadway, parking lot, and roof-top area is currently available; amorphous photovoltaic cells can also be used to tint windows and produce energy.[61] Advocates of renewable energy also argue that current infrastructure is less aethetically pleasing than alternatives, but sited further from the view of most critics.[62]
Environmental and social considerations
While most renewable energy sources do not produce pollution directly, the materials, industrial processes, and construction equipment used to create them may generate waste and pollution. Some renewable energy systems actually create environmental problems. For instance, older wind turbines can be hazardous to flying birds.[63]
Land area required
Another environmental issue, particularly with biomass and biofuels, is the large amount of land required to harvest energy, which otherwise could be used for other purposes or left as undeveloped land. However, it should be pointed out that these fuels may reduce the need for harvesting non-renewable energy sources, such as vast strip-mined areas and slag mountains for coal, safety zones around nuclear plants, and hundreds of square miles being strip-mined for oil sands. These responses, however, do not account for the extremely high biodiversity and endemism of land used for ethanol crops, particularly sugar cane.
In the U.S., crops grown for biofuels are the most land- and water-intensive of the renewable energy sources. In 2005, about 12% of the nation’s corn crop (covering 11 million acres (45,000 km²) of farmland) was used to produce four billion gallons of ethanol—which equates to about 2% of annual U.S. gasoline consumption. For biofuels to make a much larger contribution to the energy economy, the industry will have to accelerate the development of new feedstocks, agricultural practices, and technologies that are more land and water efficient. Already, the efficiency of biofuels production has increased significantly[45] and there are new methods to boost biofuel production.[64]
Hydroelectric dams
The major advantage of hydroelectric systems is the elimination of the cost of fuel. Other advantages include longer life than fuel-fired generation, low operating costs, and the provision of facilities for water sports. Operation of pumped-storage plants improves the daily load factor of the generation system. Overall, hydroelectric power can be far less expensive than electricity generated from fossil fuels or nuclear energy, and areas with abundant hydroelectric power attract industry.
However, there are several major disadvantages of hydroelectric systems. These include: dislocation of people living where the reservoirs are planned, release of significant amounts of carbon dioxide at construction and flooding of the reservoir, disruption of aquatic ecosystems and birdlife, adverse impacts on the river environment, potential risks of sabotage and terrorism, and in rare cases catastrophic failure of the dam wall. (See Hydroelectricity article for details.)
Hydroelectric power is now more difficult to site in developed nations because most major sites within these nations are either already being exploited or may be unavailable for other reasons such as environmental considerations.
Wind farms
A wind farm, when installed on agricultural land, has one of the lowest environmental impacts of all energy sources:[65]
Studies of birds and offshore wind farms in Europe have found that there are very few bird collisions.[66] Several offshore wind sites in Europe have been in areas heavily used by seabirds.
Improvements in wind turbine design, including a much slower rate of rotation of the blades and a smooth tower base instead of perchable lattice towers, have helped reduce bird mortality at wind farms around the world. However older smaller wind turbines may be hazardous to flying birds.[67] Birds are severely impacted by fossil fuel energy; examples include birds dying from exposure to oil spills, habitat loss from acid rain and mountaintop removal coal mining, and mercury poisoning.[68]
Longevity issues
Though a source of renewable energy may last for billions of years, renewable energy infrastructure, like hydroelectric dams, will not last forever, and must be removed and replaced at some point. Events like the shifting of riverbeds, or changing weather patterns could potentially alter or even halt the function of hydroelectric dams, lowering the amount of time they are available to generate electricity.
Although geothermal sites are capable of providing heat for many decades, eventually specific locations may cool down. It is likely that in these locations, the system was designed too large for the site, since there is only so much energy that can be stored and replenished in a given volume of earth. Some interpret this as meaning a specific geothermal location can undergo depletion.
Biofuels production
All biomass needs to go through some of these steps: it needs to be grown, collected, dried, fermented and burned. All of these steps require resources and an infrastructure.
Some studies contend that ethanol is "energy negative", meaning that it takes more energy to produce than is contained in the final product.[69] However, a large number of recent studies, including a 2006 article[70] in the journal Science offer the opinion that fuels like ethanol are energy positive. Furthermore, fossil fuels also require significant energy inputs which have seldom been accounted for in the past.
Additionally, ethanol is not the only product created during production, and the energy content of the by-products must also be considered. Corn is typically 66% starch and the remaining 33% is not fermented. This unfermented component is called distillers grain, which is high in fats and proteins, and makes good animal feed.[71] In Brazil, where sugar cane is used, the yield is higher, and conversion to ethanol is somewhat more energy efficient than corn. Recent developments with cellulosic ethanol production may improve yields even further.[72]
According to the International Energy Agency, new biofuels technologies being developed today, notably cellulosic ethanol, could allow biofuels to play a much bigger role in the future than previously thought.[73] Cellulosic ethanol can be made from plant matter composed primarily of inedible cellulose fibers that form the stems and branches of most plants. Crop residues (such as corn stalks, wheat straw and rice straw), wood waste, and municipal solid waste are potential sources of cellulosic biomass. Dedicated energy crops, such as switchgrass, are also promising cellulose sources that can be sustainably produced in many regions of the United States.[74]
The ethanol and biodiesel production industries also create jobs in plant construction, operations, and maintenance, mostly in rural communities. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, the ethanol industry created almost 154,000 U.S. jobs in 2005 alone, boosting household income by $5.7 billion. It also contributed about $3.5 billion in tax revenues at the local, state, and federal levels.[45]
Diversification
The U.S. electric power industry now relies on large, central power stations, including coal, natural gas, nuclear, and hydropower plants that together generate more than 95% of the nation’s electricity. Over the next few decades uses of renewable energy could help to diversify the nation’s bulk power supply. Already, appropriate renewable resources (which excludes large hydropower) produce 12% of northern California’s electricity.[45]
Although most of today’s electricity comes from large, central-station power plants, new technologies offer a range of options for generating electricity nearer to where it is needed, saving on the cost of transmitting and distributing power and improving the overall efficiency and reliability of the system.[45]
Improving energy efficiency represents the most immediate and often the most cost-effective way to reduce oil dependence, improve energy security, and reduce the health and environmental impact of the energy system. By reducing the total energy requirements of the economy, improved energy efficiency could make increased reliance on renewable energy sources more practical and affordable.[45]
Other issues
Nuclear power
In 1983, physicist Bernard Cohen proposed that uranium could provide effectively inexhaustible energy.[75][76]
Nuclear fusion, if developed, could have a similarly large potential and is expected to have fewer waste and waste-containment issues than fission.[77]
Neither nuclear fission nor nuclear fusion are commonly listed among forms of renewable energy. The EIA and the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), for instance, don't include nuclear in their list of renewable energy sources. While both sites use fossil fuels to provide a counter example of renewable sources, both contain no mention of nuclear power.[78][79]
Fossil fuels
Fossil fuels consist of deposits of once living organisms that took centuries to form. The energy comes mostly from hydrogen and carbon bonds. The non-renewability of these sources will most likely cause prices to rise up to a point where they are no longer economically feasible. This is to say that the Hubbert peak theory applies to all fossil fuels.[80]
Renewable electricity
Renewable electricity is a term used for electricity primarily produced from the renewable resources (solar, wind... energy). It is generally labeled as green energy.
Transmission
If renewable and distributed generation were to become widespread, electric power transmission and electricity distribution systems might no longer be the main distributors of electrical energy but would operate to balance the electricity needs of local communities. Those with surplus energy would sell to areas needing "top ups". That is, network operation would require a shift from 'passive management' — where generators are hooked up and the system is operated to get electricity 'downstream' to the consumer — to 'active management', wherein generators are spread across a network and inputs and outputs need to be constantly monitored to ensure proper balancing occurs within the system. Some governments and regulators are moving to address this, though much remains to be done. One potential solution is the increased use of active management of electricity transmission and distribution networks. This will require significant changes in the way that such networks are operated.
However, on a smaller scale, use of renewable energy produced on site reduces burdens on electricity distribution systems. Current systems, while rarely economically efficient, have shown that an average household with an appropriately-sized solar panel array and energy storage system needs electricity from outside sources for only a few hours per week. By matching electricity supply to end-use needs, advocates of renewable energy and the soft energy path believe electricity systems will become smaller and easier to manage, rather than the opposite (see Soft energy technology).
Market development of renewable heat energy
Renewable heat is the generation of heat from renewable sources. Much current discussion on renewable energy focuses on the generation of electrical energy, despite the fact that many colder countries consume more energy for heating than as electricity. The United Kingdom consumes 350 TWh[81] of electric power, and 840 TWh of gas and other fuels for heating annually. The residential sector alone consumes a massive 550 TWh of energy for heating, mainly in the form of gas.[82]
Renewable electric power is becoming cheap and convenient enough to place it, in many cases, within reach of the average consumer. By contrast, the market for renewable heat is mostly inaccessible to domestic consumers due to inconvenience of supply, and high capital costs. Heating accounts for a large proportion of energy consumption, however a universally accessible market for renewable heat is yet to emerge. Solutions such as geothermal heat pumps may be more widely applicable, but may not be economical in all cases. Also see renewable energy development.
Renewable energy in pop culture
The FLL (First Lego League) in the year 2007-2008 the theme is Alternative energy. the teams try to acomplish goals of switching normal cars with fuel cell cars, putting solar panels on houses etc. The teams must also do an energy audit of a building of their choice. They must write a play, skit, song or other type of media concerning the audit and how to make the building more energy efficient.
See also
List of large wind farms
List of photovoltaics companies
List of renewable energy topics by country
List of solar thermal power stations
List of wind turbine manufacturers
School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering
Efficient energy use
Energy: world resources and consumption
Energy Conservation
Energy security and renewable technology
Eugene Green Energy Standard
Mitigation of global warming
Non-renewable energy
Photovoltaic power stations
Renewable energy commercialization
Renewable energy development
Renewable energy legislation and incentives
Soft energy technologies
Sustainable energy
Waste-to-energy
External links
US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Environmental impacts of nuclear power at EPA.gov
Renewable & Alternative Fuels data from Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC).
US Mandatory REC Markets (pdf)
154MW PV power plant in Australia
New World Record achieved in solar cell technology
Wind & Renewable Power Operations
BBC news item: World tidal energy first for Northern Ireland
Renewable energy effectively utilizes natural resources such as sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat, which are naturally replenished. Renewable energy technologies range from solar power, wind power, and hydroelectricity to biomass and biofuels for transportation. About 13 percent of primary energy comes from renewables, with most of this coming from traditional biomass like wood-burning. Hydropower is the next largest source, providing 2-3%, and modern technologies like geothermal, wind, solar, and marine energy together produce less than 1% of total world energy demand.[2] The technical potential for their use is very large, exceeding all other readily available sources.[3]
Renewable energy technologies are sometimes criticised for being unreliable or unsightly, yet the market is growing for many forms of renewable energy. Wind power has a worldwide installed capacity of 74,223 MW and is widely used in several European countries and the USA.[4] The manufacturing output of the photovoltaics industry reached more than 2,000 MW per year in 2006,[5] and PV power plants are particularly popular in Germany.[6] Solar thermal power stations operate in the USA and Spain, and the largest of these is the 354 MW SEGS power plant in the Mojave Desert.[7] The world's largest geothermal power installation is The Geysers in California, with a rated capacity of 750 MW.[8] Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18 percent of the country's automotive fuel.[9] Ethanol fuel is also widely available in the USA.
While there are many large-scale renewable energy projects, renewable technologies are also suited to small off-grid applications, sometimes in rural and remote areas, where energy is often crucial in human development.[10] Kenya has the world's highest household solar ownership rate with roughly 30,000 small (20-100 watt) solar power systems sold per year.[11]
Climate change concerns coupled with high oil prices, peak oil and increasing government support are driving increasing renewable energy legislation, incentives and commercialization. EU leaders reached agreement in principle in March that 20 percent of the bloc's energy should be produced from renewable fuels by 2020, as part of its drive to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, blamed in part for global warming. [12] Investment capital flowing into renewable energy climbed from $80 billion in 2005 to a record $100 billion in 2006.[13] Some very large corporations such as BP, GE, Sharp, and Shell are investing in the renewable energy sector.[14][15]
Scenarios
Looking forward to 2030, the American Solar Energy Society report examines three scenarios: a "business as usual" scenario, with no major policy changes; a moderate scenario that includes incremental policy advances; and an advanced scenario of aggressive growth in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
In the "business as usual" scenario, the jobs created by renewable energy increase 190% by 2030, while jobs created by energy efficiency increase by 85%.
In the moderate scenario, the jobs created by renewable energy increase nearly 7-fold, while jobs created by energy efficiency more than double.
And in the advanced scenario, the jobs created by renewable energy increase 17-fold, while jobs created by energy efficiency quadruple. In the advanced scenario, renewable energy revenues increase to nearly $600 billion, while energy efficiency revenues increase to almost $4 trillion. [16]
The U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency industries employed 8 million people in 2006, while generating 933 billion dollars in sales, $100 billion in profits, and $150 billion in increased federal, state, and local government tax revenues, according to a new report from the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). The report notes that it's difficult to define the energy efficiency industry, but even focusing on the renewable energy industry, it found 196,000 people directly employed by the industry, a total of 452,000 jobs created, and revenues of $39.2 billion in 2006. [17]
Main renewable energy technologies
The majority of renewable energy technologies are directly or indirectly powered by the sun.
The Earth-Atmosphere system is in equilibrium such that heat radiation into space is equal to incoming solar radiation, the resulting level of energy within the Earth-Atmosphere system can roughly be described as the Earth's "climate." The hydrosphere (water) absorbs a major fraction of the incoming radiation. Most radiation is absorbed at low latitudes around the equator, but this energy is dissipated around the globe in the form of winds and ocean currents.
Wave motion may play a role in the process of transferring mechanical energy between the atmosphere and the ocean through wind stress.[18] Solar energy is also responsible for the distribution of precipitation which is tapped by hydroelectric projects, and for the growth of plants used to create biofuels.
Renewable energy flows involve natural phenomena such as sunlight, wind, tides and geothermal heat, as the International Energy Agency explains:
"Renewable energy is derived from natural processes that are replenished
constantly. In its various forms, it derives directly from the sun, or from heat
generated deep within the earth. Included in the definition is electricity and
heat generated from solar, wind, ocean, hydropower, biomass, geothermal
resources, and biofuels and hydrogen derived from renewable resources." [19]
Each of these sources has unique characteristics which influence how and where they are used.
Wind power
Airflows can be used to run wind turbines. Modern wind turbines range from around 600kW to up to 5 MW of rated power, although turbines, with rated output of 1.5-3 MW, have become the most common for commercial use; the power output of a turbine is a function of the cube of the wind speed, so as wind speed increases, power output increases dramatically.[20] Areas where winds are stronger and more constant, such as offshore and high altitude sites, are preferred locations for wind farms.
Wind power is the fastest growing of the renewable energy technologies,[20] though it currently provides less than 0.5% of global energy.[1][2] Over the past decade, global installed maximum capacity increased from 2,500 MW in 1992 to just over 40,000 MW at the end of 2003, at an annual growth rate of near 30%.[20] As wind power has become more prominent and viable, several public schools are incorporating sustainable wind power into the energy grid of their school in order to cut power costs.[21] Due to the intermittency of wind resources, most deployed turbines in the EU produce electricity an average of 25% of the hours in a year (a capacity factor of 25%),[22] but under favourable wind regimes some reach 35% or higher.
Capacity factors are a function of seasonal wind fluctuations and may be higher in winter. It would mean that a typical 5 MW turbine in the EU would have an average output of 1.7 MW.
Globally, the long-term technical potential of wind energy is believed to be five times total current global energy production, or 40 times current electricity demand. This could require large amounts of land to be utilized for wind turbines, particularly in areas of higher wind resources. Offshore resources experience mean wind speeds of ~90% greater than that of land, so offshore resources could contribute substantially more energy.[23] This number could also increase with higher altitude ground-based or airborne wind turbines.[24]
Wind strengths near the Earth's surface vary and thus cannot guarantee continuous power unless combined with other energy sources or storage systems. Some estimates suggest that 1,000 MW of conventional wind generation capacity can be relied on for just 333 MW of continuous power. While this might change as technology evolves, advocates have suggested incorporating wind power with other power sources, or the use of energy storage techniques, with this in mind. It is best used in the context of a system that has significant reserve capacity such as hydro, or reserve load, such as a desalination plant, to mitigate the economic effects of resource variability.
Wind power is renewable and produces no greenhouse gases during operation, such as carbon dioxide and methane.
Water power
Energy in water (in the form of motive energy or temperature differences) can be harnessed and used. Since water is about 800 times denser than air,[25][26] even a slow flowing stream of water, or moderate sea swell, can yield considerable amounts of energy.
There are many forms of water energy:
- Hydroelectric energy is a term usually reserved for large-scale hydroelectric dams. A famous example of this is the Akosombo Dam in Ghana.
- Micro hydro systems are hydroelectric power installations that typically produce up to 100 kW of power. They are often used in water rich areas as a Remote Area Power Supply (RAPS). There are many of these installations around the world, including several delivering around 50 kW in the Solomon Islands.
- Wave power uses the energy in waves. The waves will usually make large pontoons go up and down in the water, leaving an area with reduced wave height in the "shadow". Wave power has now reached commercialization.
- Tidal power captures energy from the tides in a vertical direction. Tides come in, raise water levels in a basin, and tides roll out. Around low tide, the water in the basin is discharged through a turbine. In November 2007, British company Lunar Energy announced that, in conjunction with E.On, they would be building the world's first tidal energy farm off the coast of Pembrokshire in Wales. it will be the world's first deep-sea tidal-energy farm and will provide electricity for 5,000 homes. Eight underwater turbines, each 25 metres long and 15 metres high, are to be installed on the sea bottom off St David's peninsula. Construction is due to start in the summer of 2008 and the proposed tidal energy turbines, described as "a wind farm under the sea", should be operational by 2010.
- Tidal stream power captures energy from the flow of tides, usually using underwater plant resembling a small wind turbine. Tidal stream power demonstration projects exist, and the first commercial prototype will be installed in Strangford Lough in September 2007.
- Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) uses the temperature difference between the warmer surface of the ocean and the colder lower recesses. To this end, it employs a cyclic heat engine. OTEC has not been field-tested on a large scale.
- Deep lake water cooling, although not technically an energy generation method, can save a lot of energy in summer. It uses submerged pipes as a heat sink for climate control systems. Lake-bottom water is a year-round local constant of about 4 °C.
- Blue energy is the reverse of desalination. This form of energy is in research.
Solar energy use
In this context, "solar energy" refers to energy that is collected from sunlight. Solar energy can be applied in many ways, including to:
- Generate electricity using photovoltaic solar cells.
- Generate electricity using concentrated solar power.
- Generate electricity by heating trapped air which rotates turbines in a Solar updraft tower.
- Heat buildings, directly, through passive solar design.
- Heat foodstuffs, through solar ovens.
- Heat water or air for domestic hot water and space heating needs using solar-thermal panels.
- Heat and cool air through use of solar chimneys.
- Generate electricity in geosynchronous orbit using solar power satellites.
Biofuel
Plants use photosynthesis to grow and produce biomass. Also known as biomatter, biomass can be used directly as fuel or to produce liquid biofuel. Agriculturally produced biomass fuels, such as biodiesel, ethanol and bagasse (often a by-product of sugar cane cultivation) can be burned in internal combustion engines or boilers. Typically biofuel is burned to release its stored chemical energy. Research into more efficient methods of converting biofuels and other fuels into electricity utilizing fuel cells is an area of very active work.
Liquid biofuel
Liquid biofuel is usually either a bioalcohol such as ethanol or a bio-oil such as biodiesel and straight vegetable oil. Biodiesel can be used in modern diesel vehicles with little or no modification to the engine and can be made from waste and virgin vegetable and animal oil and fats (lipids). Virgin vegetable oils can be used in modified diesel engines. In fact the Diesel engine was originally designed to run on vegetable oil rather than fossil fuel. A major benefit of biodiesel is lower emissions. The use of biodiesel reduces emission of carbon monoxide and other hydrocarbons by 20 to 40%. In some areas corn, cornstalks, sugarbeets, sugar cane, and switchgrasses are grown specifically to produce ethanol (also known as grain alcohol) a liquid which can be used in internal combustion engines and fuel cells. Ethanol is being phased into the current energy infrastructure. E85 is a fuel composed of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline that is sold to consumers. Biobutanol is being developed as an alternative to bioethanol.
In the future, there might be bio-synthetic liquid fuel available. It can be produced by the Fischer-Tropsch process, also called Biomass-To-Liquids (BTL).[27]
Solid biomass
Direct use is usually in the form of combustible solids, either wood, the biogenic portion of municipal solid waste or combustible field crops. Field crops may be grown specifically for combustion or may be used for other purposes, and the processed plant waste then used for combustion. Most sorts of biomatter, including dried manure, can actually be burnt to heat water and to drive turbines.
Sugar cane residue, wheat chaff, corn cobs and other plant matter can be, and are, burned quite successfully. The net carbon dioxide emissions that are added to the atmosphere by this process are only from the fossil fuel that is often currently consumed to plant, fertilize, harvest and transport the biomass.
Processes to harvest biomass from short-rotation poplars and willows, and perennial grasses such as switchgrass, phalaris, and miscanthus, require less frequent cultivation and less nitrogen than from typical annual crops. Pelletizing miscanthus and co-firing it with coal for generating electricity is being studied and may be economically viable.[28] The higher heating value of cellulose is about 17.4 MJ/kg [1]. The estimated yield of ethanol from dry cellulose is about 0.2 kg of ethanol per kg of cellulose [2] (60 gal/ton). Since the higher heating value of ethanol is 29.7 MJ/kg of ethanol it would be 5.94 MJ/kg of the cellulose that it is made from. Thus the ethanol contains only about 1/3 as much energy as the cellulose that it was made from. Co-firing cellulose with coal would replace about three times as much fossil fuel as using the cellulose to make ethanol. The replaced coal would produce 0.0946 kg CO₂/MJ [3] while the replaced liquid fuel would produce only about 0.0733 kg CO₂/MJ so co-firing the cellulose with coal is about 3.8 times more effective at reducing CO₂ emissions than using it to make ethanol.[dubious – discuss]
Solid biomass can also be gasified, and used as described in the next section.
Biogas
Biogas can easily be produced from current waste streams, such as: paper production, sugar production, sewage, animal waste and so forth. These various waste streams have to be slurried together and allowed to naturally ferment, producing methane gas. This can be done by converting current sewage plants into biogas plants. When a biogas plant has extracted all the methane it can, the remains are sometimes better suitable as fertilizer than the original biomass.
Alternatively biogas can be produced via advanced waste processing systems such as mechanical biological treatment. These systems recover the recyclable elements of household waste and process the biodegradable fraction in anaerobic digesters.
Renewable natural gas is a biogas which has been upgraded to a quality similar to natural gas.
By upgrading the quality to that of natural gas, it becomes possible to distribute the gas to the mass market via gas grid.
Geothermal energy
Geothermal energy is energy obtained by tapping the heat of the earth itself, usually from kilometers deep into the Earth's crust. It is expensive to build a power station but operating costs are low resulting in low energy costs for suitable sites. Ultimately, this energy derives from heat in the Earth's core. The government of Iceland states: "It should be stressed that the geothermal resource is not strictly renewable in the same sense as the hydro resource." It estimates that Iceland's geothermal energy could provide 1700 MW for over 100 years, compared to the current production of 140 MW.[29] The International Energy Agency classifies geothermal power as renewable.[30]
Three types of power plants are used to generate power from geothermal energy: dry steam, flash, and binary. Dry steam plants take steam out of fractures in the ground and use it to directly drive a turbine that spins a generator. Flash plants take hot water, usually at temperatures over 200 °C, out of the ground, and allows it to boil as it rises to the surface then separates the steam phase in steam/water separators and then runs the steam through a turbine. In binary plants, the hot water flows through heat exchangers, boiling an organic fluid that spins the turbine. The condensed steam and remaining geothermal fluid from all three types of plants are injected back into the hot rock to pick up more heat.
The geothermal energy from the core of the Earth is closer to the surface in some areas than in others. Where hot underground steam or water can be tapped and brought to the surface it may be used to generate electricity. Such geothermal power sources exist in certain geologically unstable parts of the world such as Iceland, New Zealand, United States, the Philippines and Italy. The two most prominent areas for this in the United States are in the Yellowstone basin and in northern California. Iceland produced 170 MW geothermal power and heated 86% of all houses in the year 2000 through geothermal energy. Some 8000 MW of capacity is operational in total.
There is also the potential to generate geothermal energy from hot dry rocks. Holes at least 3 km deep are drilled into the earth. Some of these holes pump water into the earth, while other holes pump hot water out. The heat resource consists of hot underground radiogenic granite rocks, which heat up when there is enough sediment between the rock and the earths surface.
Several companies in Australia are exploring this technology.
Renewable energy commercialization
Costs
Renewable energy systems encompass a broad, diverse array of technologies, and the current status of these can vary considerably. Some technologies are already mature and economically competitive (e.g. geothermal and hydropower), others need additional development to become competitive without subsidies. This can be helped by improvements to sub-components, such as electric generators.
The table shows an overview of costs of various renewable energy technologies. For comparison with the prices in the table, electricity production from a conventional coal-fired plant costs about 4¢/kWh.[31] Though in some G8 nations the cost can be significantly higher at 7.88p (~15¢/kWh).[32] Achieving further cost reductions as indicated in the table below requires further technology development, market deployment, and an increase in production capacities to mass production levels.[33]
Wind power market increase
Figures from the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) show that 2006 recorded an increase in installed wind power capacity of 15,197 megawatts (MW), taking the total installed capacity to 74,223 MW, up from 59,091 MW in 2005.[4] Despite constraints facing supply chains for wind turbines, the annual market for wind continued to increase at the rate of 32% following the 2005 record year, in which the market grew by 41%.[4] In terms of economic value, the wind energy sector has become one of the important players in the energy markets, with the total value of new generating equipment installed in 2006 reaching €18 billion, or US$23 billion.[4]
The countries with the highest total installed capacity are Germany (20,621 MW), Spain (11,615 MW), the USA (11,603 MW), India (6,270 MW) and Denmark (3,136 MW).[4] In terms of new installed capacity in 2006, the USA lead with 2,454 MW, followed by Germany (2,233 MW), India (1,840 MW), Spain (1,587 MW), China (1,347 MW) and France (810 MW).[4]
In the UK, a licence to build the world's largest offshore windfarm, in the Thames estuary, has been granted. The London Array windfarm, 12 miles off Kent and Essex, should eventually consist of 341 turbines, occupying an area of 90 square miles. This is a £1.5 billion, 1,000 megawatt project, which will power one-third of London homes. The windfarm will produce an amount of energy that, if generated by conventional means, would result in 1.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year. It could also make up to 10% of the Government's 2010 renewables target.[34]
New generation of solar thermal plants
Construction of the largest solar thermal power plant to be built in 15 years, in Boulder City, Nevada, is nearly complete. The 64MW Nevada Solar One power plant will generate enough power to meet the electricity needs of about 40,000 households and follows in the steps of the 354MW SEGS solar thermal power plants located in California’s Mojave Desert. While California’s solar plants have generated billions of kilowatt hours of electricity for the past two decades, the Nevada Solar One plant will use new technologies to capture even more energy from the sun.[35]
The California Solar Initiative
As part of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Million Solar Roofs Program, California has set a goal to create 3,000 megawatts of new, solar-produced electricity by 2017 - moving the state toward a cleaner energy future and helping lower the cost of solar systems for consumers. This is a comprehensive $2.8 billion program.[36]
The California Solar Initiative offers cash incentives on solar PV systems of up to $2.50 a watt. These incentives, combined with federal tax incentives, can cover up to 50% of the total cost of a solar panel system.[36] There are many financial incentives to support the use of renewable energy in other US states.[37]
World's largest photovoltaic power plants
Construction of a 40 MW solar generation power plant is underway in the Saxon region of Germany. The Waldpolenz Solar Park will consist of some 550,000 thin-film solar modules. The direct current produced in the modules will be converted into alternating current and fed completely into the power grid. Once completed in 2009, the project will be one of the largest photovoltaic projects ever constructed. Currently the biggest PV plant in the world has an output capacity of around 12 megawatts.[38]
A large photovoltaic power project has been completed in Portugal. The Serpa solar power plant is located at one of Europe's sunniest areas.[39] The 11 megawatt plant covers 150 acres and is comprised of 52,000 PV panels. The panels are raised 2 metres off the ground and the area will remain productive grazing land. The project will provide enough energy for 8,000 homes and will save an estimated 30,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.[40][41]
A $420 million large-scale Solar power station in Victoria is to be the biggest and most efficient solar photovoltaic power station in the world. Australian company Solar Systems will demonstrate its unique design incorporating space technology in a 154MW solar power station connected to the national grid. The power station will have the capability to concentrate the sun by 500 times onto the solar cells for ultra high power output. The Victorian power station will generate clean electricity directly from the sun to meet the annual needs of over 45,000 homes with zero greenhouse gas emissions.[42]
However, when it comes to renewable energy systems and PV, it is not just large systems that matter. Building-integrated photovoltaics or "onsite" PV systems have the advantage of being matched to end use energy needs in terms of scale. So the energy is supplied close to where it is needed.[43]
Use of ethanol for transportation
Brazil has one of the largest renewable energy programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and ethanol now provides 18 percent of the country's automotive fuel. As a partial result, Brazil, which years ago had to import a large share of the petroleum needed for domestic consumption, recently reached complete self-sufficiency in oil.[44]
Most cars on the road today in the U.S. can run on blends of up to 10% ethanol, and motor vehicle manufacturers already produce vehicles designed to run on much higher ethanol blends. Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and GM are among the automobile companies that sell “flexible-fuel” cars, trucks, and minivans that can use gasoline and ethanol blends ranging from pure gasoline up to 85% ethanol (E85). By mid-2006, there were approximately six million E85-compatible vehicles on U.S. roads.[45] The challenge is to expand the market for biofuels beyond the farm states where they have been most popular to date. Flex-fuel vehicles are assisting in this transition because they allow drivers to choose different fuels based on price and availability.
The Energy Policy Act of 2005, which calls for 7.5 billion gallons of biofuels to be used annually by 2012, will also help to expand the market.[45]
Wave farms expansion
Portugal now has the world's first commercial wave farm, the Aguçadora Wave Park, established in 2006. The farm will initially use three Pelamis P-750 machines generating 2.25 MW.[46][47] Initial costs are put at €8.5 million. Subject to successful operation, a further €70 million is likely to be invested before 2009 on a further 28 machines to generate 525 MW.[48]
Funding for a wave farm in Scotland was announced in February, 2007 by the Scottish Executive, at a cost of over 4 million pounds, as part of a £13 million funding packages for ocean power in Scotland. The farm will be the world's largest with a capacity of 3MW generated by four Pelamis machines.[49]
Geothermal energy prospects
By the end of 2005 worldwide use of geothermal energy for electricity had reached 9.3 GWs, with an additional 28 GW used directly for heating.[1] If heat recovered by ground source heat pumps is included, the non-electric use of geothermal energy is estimated at more than 100 GWt (gigawatts of thermal power) and is used commercially in over 70 countries.([1] sec 1.2)
During 2005 contracts were placed for an additional 0.5 GW of capacity in the United States, while there were also plants under construction in 11 other countries.[1]
Future potential
While at present renewable energy sources only supply a fraction of current energy use (ca. 14% of primary energy use[50], mostly from traditional biomass), there is much potential that could be exploited in the future. As the table below illustrates, the technical potential of renewable energy sources is more than 18 times current global primary energy use and furthermore several times higher than projected energy use in 2100.
There are many different ways to assess potentials. The theoretical potential indicates the amount of energy theoretically available for energy purposes, such as, in the case of solar energy, the amount of incoming radiation at the earth's surface. The technical potential is a more practical estimate of how much could be put to human use by considering conversion efficiencies of the available technology and available land area. To give an idea of the constraints, the estimate for solar energy assumes that 1% of the world's unused land surface is used for solar power.
The technical potentials generally do not include economic or other environmental constraints, and the potentials that could be realized at an economically competitive level under current conditions and in a short time-frame is lower still.
Trends favoring renewables
The renewable market will boom when cost efficiency attains parity with other competing energy sources. The following trends are a few examples by which the renewables market is being helped to attain critical mass so that it becomes competitive enough vs fossil fuels:
Other than market forces, renewable industry often needs government sponsorship to help generate enough momentum in the market. Many countries and states have implemented incentives - like government tax subsidies, partial copayment schemes and various rebates over purchase of renewables - to encourage consumers to shift to renewable energy sources. [51]
Government grants fund for research in renewable technology to make the production cheaper and generation more efficient. [52]
Development of loan programs that stimulate renewable favoring market forces with attractive return rates, buffer intial deployment costs and entice consumers to consider and purchase renewable technology. A famous example is the solar loan program sponsored by UNEP helping 100000 people finance solar power systems in India. [53] Success in India's solar program has led to similar projects in other parts of developing world like Tunisia, Morocco, Indonesia and Mexico.
Imposition of high fossil fuel consumption / carbon taxes, and channel the revenue earned towards renewable energy development. [54]
Many think-tanks are warning that the world needs an urgency driven concerted effort to create a competitive renewable energy infrastructure and market. The developed world can make more research investments to find better cost efficient technologies, and manufacturing could be transferred to developing countries in order to use low labor costs. The renewable energy market could increase fast enough to replace and initiate the decline of fossil fuel dominance and the world could then avert the looming climate and peak oil crises. [55]
Most importantly, renewables is gaining credence among private investors as having the potential to grow into the next big industry. Many companies and venture capitalists are investing in photovoltaic development and manufacturing. This trend is particularly visible in Silicon valley, California, Europe, Japan. [56] [57] [58]
Constraints and opportunities
Critics suggest that some renewable energy applications may create pollution, be dangerous, take up large amounts of land, or be incapable of generating a large net amount of energy. Proponents advocate the use of "appropriate renewables", also known as soft energy technologies, as these have many advantages.
Availability
There is no shortage of solar-derived energy on Earth. Indeed the storages and flows of energy on the planet are very large relative to human needs.
- The amount of solar energy intercepted by the Earth every minute is greater than the amount of energy the world uses in fossil fuels each year.
- Tropical oceans absorb 560 trillion gigajoules (GJ) of solar energy each year, equivalent to 1,600 times the world’s annual energy use.
- The energy in the winds that blow across the United States each year could produce more than 16 billion GJ of electricity—more than one and one-half times the electricity consumed in the United States in 2000.
- Annual photosynthesis by the vegetation in the United States is 50 billion GJ, equivalent to nearly 60% of the nation’s annual fossil fuel use.
A criticism of some renewable sources is their intermittent nature. But a variety of renewable sources in combination can overcome this problem. As Amory Lovins explains:
"Stormy weather, bad for direct solar collection, is generally good forWave energy is continuously available, although wave intensity varies by season. A wave energy scheme installed in Australia generates electricity with an 80% availability factor.
windmills and small hydropower plants; dry, sunny weather, bad for
hydropower, is ideal for photovoltaics."[59] The challenge of variable power supply may be further alleviated by energy storage. Available storage options include pumped-storage hydro systems, batteries, hydrogen fuel cells, and thermal mass.
Initial investments in such energy storage systems can be high, although the costs can be recovered over the life of the system."
Aesthetics
Both solar and wind generating stations have been criticized from an aesthetic point of view.[60]
However, methods and opportunities exist to deploy these renewable technologies efficiently and unobtrusively: fixed solar collectors can double as noise barriers along highways, and extensive roadway, parking lot, and roof-top area is currently available; amorphous photovoltaic cells can also be used to tint windows and produce energy.[61] Advocates of renewable energy also argue that current infrastructure is less aethetically pleasing than alternatives, but sited further from the view of most critics.[62]
Environmental and social considerations
While most renewable energy sources do not produce pollution directly, the materials, industrial processes, and construction equipment used to create them may generate waste and pollution. Some renewable energy systems actually create environmental problems. For instance, older wind turbines can be hazardous to flying birds.[63]
Land area required
Another environmental issue, particularly with biomass and biofuels, is the large amount of land required to harvest energy, which otherwise could be used for other purposes or left as undeveloped land. However, it should be pointed out that these fuels may reduce the need for harvesting non-renewable energy sources, such as vast strip-mined areas and slag mountains for coal, safety zones around nuclear plants, and hundreds of square miles being strip-mined for oil sands. These responses, however, do not account for the extremely high biodiversity and endemism of land used for ethanol crops, particularly sugar cane.
In the U.S., crops grown for biofuels are the most land- and water-intensive of the renewable energy sources. In 2005, about 12% of the nation’s corn crop (covering 11 million acres (45,000 km²) of farmland) was used to produce four billion gallons of ethanol—which equates to about 2% of annual U.S. gasoline consumption. For biofuels to make a much larger contribution to the energy economy, the industry will have to accelerate the development of new feedstocks, agricultural practices, and technologies that are more land and water efficient. Already, the efficiency of biofuels production has increased significantly[45] and there are new methods to boost biofuel production.[64]
Hydroelectric dams
The major advantage of hydroelectric systems is the elimination of the cost of fuel. Other advantages include longer life than fuel-fired generation, low operating costs, and the provision of facilities for water sports. Operation of pumped-storage plants improves the daily load factor of the generation system. Overall, hydroelectric power can be far less expensive than electricity generated from fossil fuels or nuclear energy, and areas with abundant hydroelectric power attract industry.
However, there are several major disadvantages of hydroelectric systems. These include: dislocation of people living where the reservoirs are planned, release of significant amounts of carbon dioxide at construction and flooding of the reservoir, disruption of aquatic ecosystems and birdlife, adverse impacts on the river environment, potential risks of sabotage and terrorism, and in rare cases catastrophic failure of the dam wall. (See Hydroelectricity article for details.)
Hydroelectric power is now more difficult to site in developed nations because most major sites within these nations are either already being exploited or may be unavailable for other reasons such as environmental considerations.
Wind farms
A wind farm, when installed on agricultural land, has one of the lowest environmental impacts of all energy sources:[65]
- It occupies less land area per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity generated than any other energy conversion system, apart from rooftop solar energy, and is compatible with grazing and crops.
- It generates the energy used in its construction in just 3 months of operation, yet its operational lifetime is 20-25 years.
- Greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution produced by its construction are tiny and declining. There are no emissions or pollution produced by its operation.
- In substituting for base-load coal power, wind power produces a net decrease in greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, and a net increase in biodiversity.
- Modern wind turbines are almost silent and rotate so slowly (in terms of revolutions per minute) that they are rarely a hazard to birds.[65]
Studies of birds and offshore wind farms in Europe have found that there are very few bird collisions.[66] Several offshore wind sites in Europe have been in areas heavily used by seabirds.
Improvements in wind turbine design, including a much slower rate of rotation of the blades and a smooth tower base instead of perchable lattice towers, have helped reduce bird mortality at wind farms around the world. However older smaller wind turbines may be hazardous to flying birds.[67] Birds are severely impacted by fossil fuel energy; examples include birds dying from exposure to oil spills, habitat loss from acid rain and mountaintop removal coal mining, and mercury poisoning.[68]
Longevity issues
Though a source of renewable energy may last for billions of years, renewable energy infrastructure, like hydroelectric dams, will not last forever, and must be removed and replaced at some point. Events like the shifting of riverbeds, or changing weather patterns could potentially alter or even halt the function of hydroelectric dams, lowering the amount of time they are available to generate electricity.
Although geothermal sites are capable of providing heat for many decades, eventually specific locations may cool down. It is likely that in these locations, the system was designed too large for the site, since there is only so much energy that can be stored and replenished in a given volume of earth. Some interpret this as meaning a specific geothermal location can undergo depletion.
Biofuels production
All biomass needs to go through some of these steps: it needs to be grown, collected, dried, fermented and burned. All of these steps require resources and an infrastructure.
Some studies contend that ethanol is "energy negative", meaning that it takes more energy to produce than is contained in the final product.[69] However, a large number of recent studies, including a 2006 article[70] in the journal Science offer the opinion that fuels like ethanol are energy positive. Furthermore, fossil fuels also require significant energy inputs which have seldom been accounted for in the past.
Additionally, ethanol is not the only product created during production, and the energy content of the by-products must also be considered. Corn is typically 66% starch and the remaining 33% is not fermented. This unfermented component is called distillers grain, which is high in fats and proteins, and makes good animal feed.[71] In Brazil, where sugar cane is used, the yield is higher, and conversion to ethanol is somewhat more energy efficient than corn. Recent developments with cellulosic ethanol production may improve yields even further.[72]
According to the International Energy Agency, new biofuels technologies being developed today, notably cellulosic ethanol, could allow biofuels to play a much bigger role in the future than previously thought.[73] Cellulosic ethanol can be made from plant matter composed primarily of inedible cellulose fibers that form the stems and branches of most plants. Crop residues (such as corn stalks, wheat straw and rice straw), wood waste, and municipal solid waste are potential sources of cellulosic biomass. Dedicated energy crops, such as switchgrass, are also promising cellulose sources that can be sustainably produced in many regions of the United States.[74]
The ethanol and biodiesel production industries also create jobs in plant construction, operations, and maintenance, mostly in rural communities. According to the Renewable Fuels Association, the ethanol industry created almost 154,000 U.S. jobs in 2005 alone, boosting household income by $5.7 billion. It also contributed about $3.5 billion in tax revenues at the local, state, and federal levels.[45]
Diversification
The U.S. electric power industry now relies on large, central power stations, including coal, natural gas, nuclear, and hydropower plants that together generate more than 95% of the nation’s electricity. Over the next few decades uses of renewable energy could help to diversify the nation’s bulk power supply. Already, appropriate renewable resources (which excludes large hydropower) produce 12% of northern California’s electricity.[45]
Although most of today’s electricity comes from large, central-station power plants, new technologies offer a range of options for generating electricity nearer to where it is needed, saving on the cost of transmitting and distributing power and improving the overall efficiency and reliability of the system.[45]
Improving energy efficiency represents the most immediate and often the most cost-effective way to reduce oil dependence, improve energy security, and reduce the health and environmental impact of the energy system. By reducing the total energy requirements of the economy, improved energy efficiency could make increased reliance on renewable energy sources more practical and affordable.[45]
Other issues
Nuclear power
In 1983, physicist Bernard Cohen proposed that uranium could provide effectively inexhaustible energy.[75][76]
We thus conclude that all the world’s energy requirements for the remaining
5×109 yr of existence of life on Earth could be provided by breeder reactors
without the cost of electricity rising by as much as 1% due to fuel costs. This
is consistent with the definition of a “renewable” energy source in the sense in
which that term is generally used.
Nuclear fusion, if developed, could have a similarly large potential and is expected to have fewer waste and waste-containment issues than fission.[77]
Neither nuclear fission nor nuclear fusion are commonly listed among forms of renewable energy. The EIA and the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), for instance, don't include nuclear in their list of renewable energy sources. While both sites use fossil fuels to provide a counter example of renewable sources, both contain no mention of nuclear power.[78][79]
Fossil fuels
Fossil fuels consist of deposits of once living organisms that took centuries to form. The energy comes mostly from hydrogen and carbon bonds. The non-renewability of these sources will most likely cause prices to rise up to a point where they are no longer economically feasible. This is to say that the Hubbert peak theory applies to all fossil fuels.[80]
Renewable electricity
Renewable electricity is a term used for electricity primarily produced from the renewable resources (solar, wind... energy). It is generally labeled as green energy.
Transmission
If renewable and distributed generation were to become widespread, electric power transmission and electricity distribution systems might no longer be the main distributors of electrical energy but would operate to balance the electricity needs of local communities. Those with surplus energy would sell to areas needing "top ups". That is, network operation would require a shift from 'passive management' — where generators are hooked up and the system is operated to get electricity 'downstream' to the consumer — to 'active management', wherein generators are spread across a network and inputs and outputs need to be constantly monitored to ensure proper balancing occurs within the system. Some governments and regulators are moving to address this, though much remains to be done. One potential solution is the increased use of active management of electricity transmission and distribution networks. This will require significant changes in the way that such networks are operated.
However, on a smaller scale, use of renewable energy produced on site reduces burdens on electricity distribution systems. Current systems, while rarely economically efficient, have shown that an average household with an appropriately-sized solar panel array and energy storage system needs electricity from outside sources for only a few hours per week. By matching electricity supply to end-use needs, advocates of renewable energy and the soft energy path believe electricity systems will become smaller and easier to manage, rather than the opposite (see Soft energy technology).
Market development of renewable heat energy
Renewable heat is the generation of heat from renewable sources. Much current discussion on renewable energy focuses on the generation of electrical energy, despite the fact that many colder countries consume more energy for heating than as electricity. The United Kingdom consumes 350 TWh[81] of electric power, and 840 TWh of gas and other fuels for heating annually. The residential sector alone consumes a massive 550 TWh of energy for heating, mainly in the form of gas.[82]
Renewable electric power is becoming cheap and convenient enough to place it, in many cases, within reach of the average consumer. By contrast, the market for renewable heat is mostly inaccessible to domestic consumers due to inconvenience of supply, and high capital costs. Heating accounts for a large proportion of energy consumption, however a universally accessible market for renewable heat is yet to emerge. Solutions such as geothermal heat pumps may be more widely applicable, but may not be economical in all cases. Also see renewable energy development.
Renewable energy in pop culture
The FLL (First Lego League) in the year 2007-2008 the theme is Alternative energy. the teams try to acomplish goals of switching normal cars with fuel cell cars, putting solar panels on houses etc. The teams must also do an energy audit of a building of their choice. They must write a play, skit, song or other type of media concerning the audit and how to make the building more energy efficient.
See also
List of large wind farms
List of photovoltaics companies
List of renewable energy topics by country
List of solar thermal power stations
List of wind turbine manufacturers
School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering
Efficient energy use
Energy: world resources and consumption
Energy Conservation
Energy security and renewable technology
Eugene Green Energy Standard
Mitigation of global warming
Non-renewable energy
Photovoltaic power stations
Renewable energy commercialization
Renewable energy development
Renewable energy legislation and incentives
Soft energy technologies
Sustainable energy
Waste-to-energy
External links
US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
Environmental impacts of nuclear power at EPA.gov
Renewable & Alternative Fuels data from Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC).
US Mandatory REC Markets (pdf)
154MW PV power plant in Australia
New World Record achieved in solar cell technology
Wind & Renewable Power Operations
BBC news item: World tidal energy first for Northern Ireland
Green energy
Green energy
Green energy is a term describing what is considered to be environmentally friendly, typically non-polluting, sources of power and energy, some sources may use it interchangeably with renewable energy (see #Definition below). Additionally, some governments have drafted very specific definitions of green energy or an equivalent term which may be eligible for special subsidies or support in order to promote the technology.
Green energy is commonly thought of in the context of electricity, heating, and cogeneration, and is becoming increasingly available. Consumers, businesses, and organizations may specifically purchase green energy in order to support further development, help reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity generation, and increase their nation’s energy independence.
Definition
Several definitions have been put forth for the term. These include:
Related terms
Green power can refer specifically to electricity generated from "green" sources.
The term brown energy has been introduced by some such as the The John Ray Initiative to contrast with green energy.[5]
Alternative energy is another, sometimes equivalent, term to renewable energy. Both terms indicate sources that are non-polluting non-fossil fuel sources. Both are Buzzwords, and they differ by highlighting the environmentally friendly aspect versus the non-traditional aspect.
Since the term indicates low-pollution and environmental soundness, green energy sources are also clean technologies.
Energy sources
Green energy includes natural energetic processes that can be harnessed with little pollution. Anaerobic digestion, geothermal power, wind power, small-scale hydropower, solar power, biomass power, tidal power and wave power fall under such a category. Some versions may also include power derived from the incineration of waste.
Some organizations have specifically classified nuclear power as green energy such as cleantech.com[6]. However, even the Nuclear Energy Institute has avoided the issue of directly classifying nuclear as green energy - a public awareness campaign launched for nuclear power uses the catch phrase clean air energy.[7]
Likewise, medium or large-scale hydroelectric power or sources of air pollution such as burning biomatter or petroleum, consume water and are often excluded from the label 'green energy'.
Renewable energy certificates (Green certificates, or green tags) are currently the most convenient way for consumers and businesses to support "green power". Over 35 million homes in Europe, and 1 million in the United States, are purchasing such certificates.
No power source is entirely impact-free. All energy sources require energy and gives rise to some degree of pollution from manufacture of the technology.
Purchasing green energy through the electrical grid
In several countries with common carrier arrangements, electricity retailing arrangements make it possible for consumers to purchase green electricity from either their utility or a green power provider. The customer typically pays a small premium.
When energy is purchased from the electricity network, the power reaching the consumer will not necessarily be generated from green energy sources. The local utility company, electric company or state power pool buys their electricity from electricity producers who may be generating from fossil fuel, nuclear or renewable energy sources. In many countries green energy currently provides a very small amount of electricity, generally contributing less than 2 to 5% to the overall pool.
By participating in a green energy program a consumer may be having an effect on the energy sources used and ultimately might be helping to promote and expand the use of green energy.
They are also making a statement to policy makers that they are willing to pay a price premium to support renewable energy. Green energy consumers either obligate the utility companies to increase the amount of green energy that they purchase from the pool (so decreasing the amount of non-green energy they purchase), or directly fund the green energy through a green power provider. If insufficient green energy sources are available, the utility must develop new ones or contract with a third party energy supplier to provide green energy, causing more to be built. However, there is no way the consumer can check whether or not the electricity bought is "green" or otherwise.
In some countries such as the Netherlands, electricity companies guarantee to buy an equal amount of 'green power' as is being used by their green power customers. The Dutch government exempts green power from pollution taxes, which means green power is hardly any more expensive than other power.
Abuses
In countries where suppliers are legally obliged to purchase a proportion of their electricity from renewable sources (for example under the Renewables Obligation in the United Kingdom), there is a danger that energy suppliers may sell such green electricity under a premium 'green energy' tariff, rather than sourcing additional green electricity supplies.[8] Where a Renewable Energy Certificate or similar scheme is in operation it is also possible for the energy supplier to sell the green electricity to the consumer, and also sell the certificate to another supplier who has failed to meet their quota, rather than 'retiring' the certificate from the marketplace. In other cases green energy tariffs may involve carbon offsetting rather than purchasing or investing in renewable energy.[9][10]
Certification schemes to minimise these and similar questionable practices are in place or are being developed in a few countries.[11]
International standards
The World Wide Fund for Nature and several green electricity labelling organizations have created the Eugene Green Energy Standard under which national green electricity certification schemes can be accredited to ensure that the purchase of green energy leads to the provision of additional new green energy resources.[12]
Purchasing green energy through the gas grid
The market for heating is mostly serviced by gas and oil rather than electric power, due to the high cost per kilowatt of electricity in many countries. Distribution of cheap renewable electric power via the electrical grid has made it possible in many countries for the average consumer to choose renewable electric power, and in the same manner bionatural gas may in future be made available to the average consumer via the existing natural gas grid. [13][14]
Local green energy systems
Those not satisfied with the third-party grid approach to green energy via the power grid can install their own locally-based renewable energy system. Renewable energy electrical systems from solar to wind to even local hydro-power in some cases, are some of the many types of renewable energy systems available locally. Additionally, for those interested in heating and cooling their dwelling via renewable energy, geothermal heat pump systems that tap the constant temperature of the earth, which is around 7 to 15 degrees Celsius a few feet underground, are an option and save money over conventional natural gas and petroleum-fueled heat approaches.
United States
The advantage of this approach in the United States is that many states offer incentives to offset the cost of installation of a renewable energy system. Individuals are usually assured that the electricity they are using is actually produced from a green energy source that they control.
Once the system is paid for, the owner of a renewable energy system will be producing their own renewable electricity for essentially no cost and can sell the excess to the local utility at a profit.
DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) [15] recognizes the voluntary purchase of electricity from renewable energy sources (also called renewable electricity or green electricity) as green power .
DOE selected six companies for its 2007 Green Power Supplier Awards, including Constellation NewEnergy; 3Degrees; Sterling Planet; SunEdison; Pacific Power and Rocky Mountain Power; and Silicon Valley Power. The combined green power provided by those six winners equals more than 5 billion kilowatt-hours per year, which is enough to power nearly 465,000 average U.S. households.
The EPA recognized the West Division of Macy's Inc., the Timberland Company, and the City of Chico, California, for their on-site generation of solar power, and also recognized New York University and six companies for purchasing green power. The EPA also named the City of Bellingham, Washington, and six more companies as their Green Power Partners of the Year.
Among all the companies, PepsiCo stands out as a partner of the year, because three of its bottling companies were also honored for buying green power. In addition, CRS awarded its Market Development Awards to the Western Washington Green Power Campaign, Clif Bar, and two individuals: John Schaeffer and Bill Spratley.
Throughout the country, more than half of all U.S. electricity customers now have an option to purchase some type of green power product from a retail electricity provider. Roughly one-quarter of the nation's utilities offer green power programs to customers, and voluntary retail sales of renewable energy in the United States totaled more than 12 billion kilowatt-hours in 2006, a 40% increase over the previous year.
See also
Alternative propulsion
Ashden Awards
Blue energy
Clean Energy Trends
Efficient energy use
Electric vehicle
Energy conservation
Energy efficiency
Energy Globe Awards
Feed-in Tariff
Global warming
Green energy certification schemes
Green banking
International Sustainable Energy Agency
Oil phase-out
Plug-in hybrid
Renewable energy
Renewable heat
The Clean Tech Revolution
V2G
National articles
Category:Green electricity by country
External links
EnviroDaq 100 Clean Tech Index Stock Index for Clean Tech and Green Energy companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.
U.S. Dept. of Energy's Green Power Network
US EPA: Green Power Partnership
Case Study: Green electricity in Darmstadt, Germany
Why Is It Better to Buy Green Electricity?
Association for Environment Conscious Building: The Green Electricity Illusion
Related journals
International Journal of Green Energy
Renewable Energy World
Green energy is a term describing what is considered to be environmentally friendly, typically non-polluting, sources of power and energy, some sources may use it interchangeably with renewable energy (see #Definition below). Additionally, some governments have drafted very specific definitions of green energy or an equivalent term which may be eligible for special subsidies or support in order to promote the technology.
Green energy is commonly thought of in the context of electricity, heating, and cogeneration, and is becoming increasingly available. Consumers, businesses, and organizations may specifically purchase green energy in order to support further development, help reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity generation, and increase their nation’s energy independence.
Definition
Several definitions have been put forth for the term. These include:
- A popular term for energy produced from renewable energy resources or, sometimes, from clean (low-emitting) energy sources.[1]
- Green energy comes from a source which does not produce pollutants; for example, solar, wind and wave energies.[2]
- Energy that is produced and used in ways that produce less air pollution and other environmental impacts.[3]
- "environmentally friendly" energy generated from sources such as hydro (water), solar (sun), biomass (landfill) or wind.[4]
Related terms
Green power can refer specifically to electricity generated from "green" sources.
The term brown energy has been introduced by some such as the The John Ray Initiative to contrast with green energy.[5]
Alternative energy is another, sometimes equivalent, term to renewable energy. Both terms indicate sources that are non-polluting non-fossil fuel sources. Both are Buzzwords, and they differ by highlighting the environmentally friendly aspect versus the non-traditional aspect.
Since the term indicates low-pollution and environmental soundness, green energy sources are also clean technologies.
Energy sources
Green energy includes natural energetic processes that can be harnessed with little pollution. Anaerobic digestion, geothermal power, wind power, small-scale hydropower, solar power, biomass power, tidal power and wave power fall under such a category. Some versions may also include power derived from the incineration of waste.
Some organizations have specifically classified nuclear power as green energy such as cleantech.com[6]. However, even the Nuclear Energy Institute has avoided the issue of directly classifying nuclear as green energy - a public awareness campaign launched for nuclear power uses the catch phrase clean air energy.[7]
Likewise, medium or large-scale hydroelectric power or sources of air pollution such as burning biomatter or petroleum, consume water and are often excluded from the label 'green energy'.
Renewable energy certificates (Green certificates, or green tags) are currently the most convenient way for consumers and businesses to support "green power". Over 35 million homes in Europe, and 1 million in the United States, are purchasing such certificates.
No power source is entirely impact-free. All energy sources require energy and gives rise to some degree of pollution from manufacture of the technology.
Purchasing green energy through the electrical grid
In several countries with common carrier arrangements, electricity retailing arrangements make it possible for consumers to purchase green electricity from either their utility or a green power provider. The customer typically pays a small premium.
When energy is purchased from the electricity network, the power reaching the consumer will not necessarily be generated from green energy sources. The local utility company, electric company or state power pool buys their electricity from electricity producers who may be generating from fossil fuel, nuclear or renewable energy sources. In many countries green energy currently provides a very small amount of electricity, generally contributing less than 2 to 5% to the overall pool.
By participating in a green energy program a consumer may be having an effect on the energy sources used and ultimately might be helping to promote and expand the use of green energy.
They are also making a statement to policy makers that they are willing to pay a price premium to support renewable energy. Green energy consumers either obligate the utility companies to increase the amount of green energy that they purchase from the pool (so decreasing the amount of non-green energy they purchase), or directly fund the green energy through a green power provider. If insufficient green energy sources are available, the utility must develop new ones or contract with a third party energy supplier to provide green energy, causing more to be built. However, there is no way the consumer can check whether or not the electricity bought is "green" or otherwise.
In some countries such as the Netherlands, electricity companies guarantee to buy an equal amount of 'green power' as is being used by their green power customers. The Dutch government exempts green power from pollution taxes, which means green power is hardly any more expensive than other power.
Abuses
In countries where suppliers are legally obliged to purchase a proportion of their electricity from renewable sources (for example under the Renewables Obligation in the United Kingdom), there is a danger that energy suppliers may sell such green electricity under a premium 'green energy' tariff, rather than sourcing additional green electricity supplies.[8] Where a Renewable Energy Certificate or similar scheme is in operation it is also possible for the energy supplier to sell the green electricity to the consumer, and also sell the certificate to another supplier who has failed to meet their quota, rather than 'retiring' the certificate from the marketplace. In other cases green energy tariffs may involve carbon offsetting rather than purchasing or investing in renewable energy.[9][10]
Certification schemes to minimise these and similar questionable practices are in place or are being developed in a few countries.[11]
International standards
The World Wide Fund for Nature and several green electricity labelling organizations have created the Eugene Green Energy Standard under which national green electricity certification schemes can be accredited to ensure that the purchase of green energy leads to the provision of additional new green energy resources.[12]
Purchasing green energy through the gas grid
The market for heating is mostly serviced by gas and oil rather than electric power, due to the high cost per kilowatt of electricity in many countries. Distribution of cheap renewable electric power via the electrical grid has made it possible in many countries for the average consumer to choose renewable electric power, and in the same manner bionatural gas may in future be made available to the average consumer via the existing natural gas grid. [13][14]
Local green energy systems
Those not satisfied with the third-party grid approach to green energy via the power grid can install their own locally-based renewable energy system. Renewable energy electrical systems from solar to wind to even local hydro-power in some cases, are some of the many types of renewable energy systems available locally. Additionally, for those interested in heating and cooling their dwelling via renewable energy, geothermal heat pump systems that tap the constant temperature of the earth, which is around 7 to 15 degrees Celsius a few feet underground, are an option and save money over conventional natural gas and petroleum-fueled heat approaches.
United States
The advantage of this approach in the United States is that many states offer incentives to offset the cost of installation of a renewable energy system. Individuals are usually assured that the electricity they are using is actually produced from a green energy source that they control.
Once the system is paid for, the owner of a renewable energy system will be producing their own renewable electricity for essentially no cost and can sell the excess to the local utility at a profit.
DOE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) [15] recognizes the voluntary purchase of electricity from renewable energy sources (also called renewable electricity or green electricity) as green power .
DOE selected six companies for its 2007 Green Power Supplier Awards, including Constellation NewEnergy; 3Degrees; Sterling Planet; SunEdison; Pacific Power and Rocky Mountain Power; and Silicon Valley Power. The combined green power provided by those six winners equals more than 5 billion kilowatt-hours per year, which is enough to power nearly 465,000 average U.S. households.
The EPA recognized the West Division of Macy's Inc., the Timberland Company, and the City of Chico, California, for their on-site generation of solar power, and also recognized New York University and six companies for purchasing green power. The EPA also named the City of Bellingham, Washington, and six more companies as their Green Power Partners of the Year.
Among all the companies, PepsiCo stands out as a partner of the year, because three of its bottling companies were also honored for buying green power. In addition, CRS awarded its Market Development Awards to the Western Washington Green Power Campaign, Clif Bar, and two individuals: John Schaeffer and Bill Spratley.
Throughout the country, more than half of all U.S. electricity customers now have an option to purchase some type of green power product from a retail electricity provider. Roughly one-quarter of the nation's utilities offer green power programs to customers, and voluntary retail sales of renewable energy in the United States totaled more than 12 billion kilowatt-hours in 2006, a 40% increase over the previous year.
See also
Alternative propulsion
Ashden Awards
Blue energy
Clean Energy Trends
Efficient energy use
Electric vehicle
Energy conservation
Energy efficiency
Energy Globe Awards
Feed-in Tariff
Global warming
Green energy certification schemes
Green banking
International Sustainable Energy Agency
Oil phase-out
Plug-in hybrid
Renewable energy
Renewable heat
The Clean Tech Revolution
V2G
National articles
Category:Green electricity by country
External links
EnviroDaq 100 Clean Tech Index Stock Index for Clean Tech and Green Energy companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.
U.S. Dept. of Energy's Green Power Network
US EPA: Green Power Partnership
Case Study: Green electricity in Darmstadt, Germany
Why Is It Better to Buy Green Electricity?
Association for Environment Conscious Building: The Green Electricity Illusion
Related journals
International Journal of Green Energy
Renewable Energy World
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